trade
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Competition in the Ocean: China’s Vertical Expansion and India’s Horizontal Dominance
As China deepens its strategic footprint through vertical port development and energy corridors, India counters with a horizontally expansive maritime network rooted in historical connectivity. Both powers have increasingly prioritized the Indian Ocean as a geopolitical landscape, where ancient trade routes meet modern rivalries. In their ancient maritime treatises, “Bahr…
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The Promise and Power of BRICS+: A Conversation with Professor Brian Wong
Jonathan Chin, SSI Editor-in-Chief, speaks to Brian Wong, Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. Brian’s research examines the ethics and dynamics of authoritarian regimes and their foreign policies, historical and colonial injustices, and the intersection of geopolitics, political and moral philosophy, and technology. As a geopolitical…
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Coercion by the Kilogram: Rare Earths and the Next Phase of US–China Competition
On April 4, 2025, China’s Ministry of Commerce imposed new licensing requirements on exports of seven rare earth elements (REEs) and their associated products, including permanent magnets. While not an outright ban, this move adds regulatory friction to the global supply of critical materials such as samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium,…
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The Strategic Relations of ASEAN and the EU: Trade, Green Economy, Geopolitics
Guest Article by Jit Soon Aw Once colonial, now collaborative: the EU and ASEAN are evolving history’s imbalance into a mutually lucrative partnership. The Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) are undoubtedly two of the most successful regional blocs with the shared aim of enhancing…
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Singapore’s Crypto Clampdown: Can Regulation Build the Next Fintech Hub?
As global regulators scramble to restore trust in digital finance, Singapore is charting a path that few others dare to follow. While much of the crypto world eyes a rebound driven by new capital, token launches, and looser rules, Singapore is moving in the opposite direction—tightening consumer protections, raising compliance…
Sino-Southeast Initiative 